About Martha


Key Takeaways

  • Bill went from waking up every two hours for six to seven years to sleeping seven to eight hours a night in less than four months, without ever finding a single "cause" — his labs showed depleted cortisol, low sex hormones, four depleted neurotransmitters, mineral imbalances, gut pathogens, and mycotoxins all at once.
  • None of these root causes show up on standard sleep advice or a basic blood panel — they showed up because Martha tested his DUTCH hormone panel, a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, a mycotoxin panel, and his gut health directly, rather than guessing from symptoms.
  • Martha treated the depletion first — supporting neurotransmitters, liver, hormones, and stress physiology with targeted supplements — before addressing the pathogens, and by month six Bill was off sleep medication entirely.


Bill had been waking up after two hours of sleep, every single night, for six to seven years. He couldn't fall back asleep for hours once he woke up, and he was getting four to six hours of broken sleep a night despite doing everything his doctors had told him to do.


He came to me with a complicated health history on top of it: chronic gut issues with bloating, an inability to pass gas, and loose stools; radiation scarring from prostate cancer; and celiac disease he'd already been diagnosed with. He was 70, low energy, foggy, and felt older than he should. His sleep was affecting his mental health, how he treated the people around him, and his spiritual life.


By the time he reached out, he'd tried 10 milligrams of melatonin plus magnesium and was still waking at 3am. He'd used Ambien, then switched to ZzzQuil, and still needed it every night just to sleep. He'd eliminated foods, taken digestive enzymes, and tried multiple supplements. Nothing fully worked. His sleep assessment score at intake was a 19 out of roughly 29 — and his gut was affecting his life every day. He was skeptical I could help, especially with his gut, even though gut health is closely tied to sleep and is part of what I look at with every client.


While we waited about a month for his lab results, we started with a jumpstart plan. I had him stop watching the clock at night, since checking the time only feeds anxiety — it's never a good time, no matter what time it is. I had him get out of bed when he couldn't sleep instead of lying there. He was drinking a lot of carbonated beverages, which wasn't helping his bloating, so we cut those. We also reduced screens before bed and added a wind-down breathing routine — not because screens cause chronic insomnia, but because the blue light triggers cortisol instead of melatonin, and that was working against him while we addressed the real root causes. I also had him increase protein at breakfast, which is something I recommend to nearly every client, because protein supplies the amino acids and minerals the body needs to actually build hormones and neurotransmitters, and it stabilizes blood sugar. He added chamomile tea before bed for relaxation. He noticed a difference right away, and told me the breathing exercises helped the most.


Because he was checking off symptoms consistent with mold exposure and CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome), I also started him on CellCore supplements right away to support detox and supply minerals and a binder to safely pull toxins out of the body.


When his labs came back, they told a clear story. His DUTCH test showed his cortisol was barely rising in the morning and barely dropping at night — relatively elevated at bedtime and overnight compared to where it should be. His body wasn't making much cortisol at all anymore, which happens after long-term chronic stress, once the adrenals run out of the resources needed to respond correctly. His sex hormones were all low: estrogen barely within range, testosterone way below range, DHEA below range, and progesterone at the low end. His glutathione — the body's master liver detox nutrient — was also low on the same panel.


His neurotransmitters were depleted across the board. Serotonin was low, which matters for mood but is also critical for sleep. Dopamine was under a third of where it should be. Norepinephrine and epinephrine, our other stress hormones alongside cortisol, were also depleted, and the ratio between them was high — a marker of stress and burnout. GABA, our calming, anti-anxiety neurotransmitter, was low. Even glutamate, a stimulating neurotransmitter I usually worry about when it's high, was low in his case.


His Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis showed a slow oxidation pattern — calcium and magnesium high relative to sodium and potassium, a pattern I see often, which points to a stressed, burnt-out body. His magnesium reading looked high on paper, but on a hair test that usually reflects loss: the body isn't absorbing it at the cellular level and is pushing it into soft tissue instead, which actually means he needed more magnesium, not less. Under stress, the body burns through magnesium roughly five times faster than usual. A few toxic elements, including uranium and arsenic, also showed up. A separate mycotoxin test confirmed what his symptoms suggested — two mycotoxins were present, with ochratoxin especially high.


His gut testing showed C. difficile at a high level, which is unusual to see, along with H. pylori — bacteria I see in about 80% of my clients, and one that raises stomach pH and makes it harder to digest protein. His elastase, the enzyme that digests protein, was depleted too, which tends to go hand in hand with H. pylori, since the pancreas keeps overproducing it trying to compensate. His secretory IgA was elevated, showing his gut's first line of immune defense was actively responding to pathogens. Calprotectin, a marker of gut inflammation, was very high. Interestingly, his gut bacteria showed overgrowth rather than deficiency — his commensal "good" bacteria were high, and five opportunistic species were flagged high as well, which meant a probiotic would have been the wrong move; he didn't need more bacteria, he needed the overgrowth addressed.


I started his protocol with neurotransmitter support, since that tends to make the biggest difference for sleep the fastest: 5-HTP for serotonin, liposomal GABA with L-theanine before bed, and DLPA to support his dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. I added a methyl B complex with folate, methyl B12, and milk thistle for liver support, and a low-dose over-the-counter DHEA, since DHEA is the parent hormone to all the sex hormones that were showing so depleted. For cortisol and HPA axis support, I added a nighttime formula with relaxing herbs. Then we moved into gut support: digestive enzymes, Mega Mucosa to support the gut lining given the inflammation and likely leaky gut, Biocidin to break down the biofilm that protects H. pylori and other pathogens, and a candida-specific supplement to address the mycotoxins.


I didn't specifically target the H. pylori right away — I wanted to address the mycotoxins first and see how he responded before adding another layer. He kept improving, so it wasn't necessary; it's likely the biofilm and antimicrobial support he was already on took care of it too.


His progress built steadily. He felt a difference from the jumpstart changes right away. By month three, his gut was calming down, his sleep was improving even though it wasn't fully solid yet, and he was more mindful about food. By month four — in under four months — he was sleeping seven to eight hours a night, his stomach felt dramatically better, and his bathroom habits had evened out, though he was still using ZzzQuil while traveling. By month five, he was no longer waking in the night, had cut his ZzzQuil dose in half, and had more patience and empathy with the people around him. By month six, he was off ZzzQuil completely, sleeping well, and said he had twice the energy he used to. He decided to run for mayor of his town and started helping neighbors clear trees that had blown down in a windstorm — more active than he'd been in years.


FAQ

Q: Why isn't melatonin or magnesium fixing my insomnia?

A: Because they're addressing a symptom, not the depletion underneath it. Bill was taking 10 milligrams of melatonin plus magnesium every night and still woke at 3am, because his actual issues — depleted cortisol, low sex hormones, four depleted neurotransmitters, and mineral loss at the cellular level — were never touched by those supplements.


Q: Should I take a probiotic if gut issues are affecting my sleep?

A: Not automatically. Bill's gut testing actually showed an overgrowth of bacteria, including his "good" commensal bacteria, so adding a probiotic would have added fuel to a fire that was already burning — testing showed what he needed was addressing the overgrowth and inflammation, not adding more bacteria.


Q: How do I know if a sleep supplement protocol is actually working?

A: You can either retest to confirm the markers have shifted, or track how you feel — both are valid. Some clients want the retest for certainty, while others feel so much better that the improvement itself is the confirmation; either way, real change in sleep and energy is the signal the underlying imbalance is being corrected.


Q: Does a hair mineral test show how many heavy metals are stored in my body?

A: No — it shows how much your body is currently able to release, not your total body burden. That's why heavy metals sometimes test higher after mineral balancing has already started: the body has gotten strong enough to start releasing what was there all along, which is also why mineral support comes before any detox protocol.


If depleted hormones, neurotransmitters, minerals, gut pathogens, and mycotoxins might all be layering on top of each other in your body the way they were for Bill, this is exactly what the Complete Sleep Solution program is built to investigate. The program uses functional lab testing — including a DUTCH hormone panel, Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, gut testing, neurotransmitter testing, and mycotoxin testing — to show you which systems are actually depleted, instead of guessing at another supplement.


→ Learn how the Complete Sleep Solution program works 


About Martha Lewis 

Martha Lewis is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and founder of The Sleep Detective™. Since 2019, she has helped 300+ clients identify the root causes of their insomnia using functional lab testing — including gut analysis, hormone panels, neurotransmitter testing, and toxin screening. She discovered her own root causes (hormone imbalances, heavy metals, and a parasite) after years of trying conventional sleep solutions, and now uses the same investigative approach with her clients.


Learn more about Martha →

Get 7+ hours of uninterrupted sleep a night.